The Gift

This fine art pigment ink print on 100% cotton rag archival paper is an original watercolour painting by Dharshi de Silva. This painting is about the gifts of meditation. Buddha was asked, "what have you gained from meditation? He replied, Nothing! However let me tell you what I lost: anger, anxiety, depression, insecurity, fear of old age and death". There had been a study done, which was mentioned by motivational speaker Jay Shetty, men and women were asked to sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes or if they didn't want to do that they had an alternative option to give themselves an electric shock instead. The study showed that 60 % of the men chose an electric shock, and 30% of women chose an electric shock.  For many, sitting in stillness and silence without distractions from your phone, tv, music, drink, food, book, action or conversation feels like torture that actual torture by electrocution is a better option for them because it only lasts a few seconds! This is how much, many people hate the idea of meditation. There are many layers to the meaning of this painting related to the art of meditation and the gifts it brings; I would love to expand on it in a future post on my blog. If you are interested in hearing about it, please subscribe to my blog here.